Fleet Improvement Ideas

[Jean LaPointe]

Seeing how the other Fleet post as become a war zone of its own and any critical thought for Fleet improves are lost in the rhetoric. Please if you want to gripe about Fleets use the other thread. Thank you.

 

For those who couldn't stomach that thread, you would never had seen this post, so I repeated it here for a clean start:

 

Keep the Fleets, but some changes are needed or reinforced.

 

There are a number of tweaks that can improve the use of fleets. Currently you can use ships from your own stable in your fleets, but you have to remove everything as if you were to but these ships up for sale. Can this be changed so an outfitted ship remain as is? Can what ever is in the hold remain as is when the ship is in Fleet status? Changes in this will allow:

1. To move ships as assets from one warehoused port to another. It allows a warship to protect up to two merchants you can fill to the brim with cargo - self made convoy. More than one player with this combination and you have a large convoy on the OW.

2. It allows an escort to a single merchant with the escorts having all the upgrades you have added without having to remove them. (for game play cannons while in fleet mode, are standard issue/design)

3. It allows for up to three merchants to carry goods in the open world.

4. Capture a merchant gives you three choices A. Sink the captured ship. B. Send it to a port (you loose anything left in the hold, but have to add crew to navigate ship home) C. Attach it as a Fleet ship (you keep everything in the hold, but have to add crew to navigate ship in fleet status).

5. Limit the attached fleet ships to be able to add on to one warship as a fleet adjunct. You can go as high as the max two if one is or both ships are merchant classed ships. These would be the four configurations I have in mind: (1 warship), (1 Merchant), (1 warship + 1 Merchant), or (2 Merchants).

6. If the chance Fishing boats come into play, a fishing fleet will allow for double or triple the catch depending upon the size of the fleet.

7. Fleet ships can only be used that match the rank you can fully qualify in. Example: A midshipman cannot have a frigate as a fleet ship because he hasn't earned the rank to fully sail the ship.

 

Remember the fleets moves as the weakest of the ships in the fleet. All ships must be fully crewed. Running a fleet isn't cheap and shouldn't be. The only exception I can see is for the New Player where by the basic cutter can get another cutter as a fleet free as charge and is only allowed for the first two rank levels after that it is the same game as everyone else.

 

Fleets are a great addition, we are not at our full potential yet.

[Hethwill]

What if the sum of crew of the fleet cannot exceed the Player ship crew ?

 

Say a Captain sailing a LGV, 240 crew, could have a single ship escort up to 240 or two escorts with combined crew of 240 maximum.

 

It would tie to the rank and commanding ship better IMO.

[Chimera]

I like that. In another post (don't remember where) I suggested some sort of size regulation as well.

I like the choices AI fleets bring into the game. I wouldn't want to see a traders cutter being escorted by a victory though.

[Jean LaPointe]

What if the sum of crew of the fleet cannot exceed the Player ship crew ?

 

Say a Captain sailing a LGV, 240 crew, could have a single ship escort up to 240 or two escorts with combined crew of 240 maximum.

 

It would tie to the rank and commanding ship better IMO.

Absolutely, or you cannot exceed the total crew allocation of your current rank. Example: Master and Commander = 250 crew you couldn't be in a Niagara and have another Niagara at you Fleet vessel because you crew total,310, is greater than you command allowance of 250. The best you can join with is a Pickle in Fleet with a total crew weight of 210 (40 spare crew remaining).

 

These limitations take advantage of the crew allocations and limit the size and type of fleet based upon experience. This will eliminate the heavy powered super fleet as it would be too expensive to operate.

[Jean LaPointe]

I like that. In another post (don't remember where) I suggested some sort of size regulation as well.

I like the choices AI fleets bring into the game. I wouldn't want to see a traders cutter being escorted by a victory though.

You wouldn't be able to with crew restrictions, well I guess you could but who in their right mind would want to take a 1 duro ship and let the AI run it while you are in an unarmed cutter? Lose the cutter, you lose the Victory. You leave the battle before it is over, you still lose the Victory. I cannot see this ever happening. If I did, I am going to advantage of the situation.